Poetry is what gets lost in translation-Robert Frost

November 29, 2012

In The iPod: Retro

The only things that are new to me that I've been listening to recently were released in years previously. The most recent is the soundtrack from The Guard (2011) by Calexico by way of Ennico Morricone.

I have finally listened to a couple of Superchunk recordings as well. I was always curious about them, since they were from Chapel Hill, which was dubbed the next "Seattle." They were getting a lot of good press in the early 90s as well. The Steve Albini produced No Pocky For Kitty (1990) is very much of the era, guitar heavy and raw sounding with the standouts being "Seed Toss," "Cast Iron," and "Throwing Things." I have also been listening to Come Pick Me Up (1999), which was produced by Jim O'Rourke who does some counter intuitive things like adding strings to arrangements. My favorite songs are: "Hello Hawk," "1000 Pounds," and "Pink Clouds."

The first Sonic Youth album I got into was Daydream Nation, but I remember my room mates in college being fans of Sister and EVOL. So I've been listening to EVOL (1986) which is apparently a move to a more accessible sound and the first album with drummer Steve Shelly, who would become a mainstay. The standout tracks are: ""Tom Violence," "Shadow Of A Doubt," "Green Light," and "Expressway To Your Skull."

I also rediscovered my passion for Camper Van Beethoven, especially via their brilliant Telephone Free Landslide Victory (1985), which has one of my high school anthems: "Take The Skinheads Bowling" as well as classics such as "The Day Lassi Went To The Moon," "Wasted," "Where The Hell Is Bill?," "Opi Rides Again - Club Med Sucks," and "Ambiguity Song." But let's not forget Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (1988) with "Eye Of Fatima (I&II)," "One oF These Days," and "Life Is Grand." and then there's Key Lime Pie (1992) and "When I Win the Lottery," "(I Was Born in a) Laundromat," and "Pictures of Matchstick Men."